University expands global partnerships with new Universidad ORT Uruguay MOU
STARKVILLE, Miss. (PRESS RELEASE) – According to an MSU press release, a new Memorandum of Understanding between Mississippi State and Universidad ORT Uruguay highlights the significance of research and global exchange between the two partners.
The MOU enhances educational and research exchange opportunities for both students and faculty at each institution; identifies commonalities to grow the relationship and develop cooperative endeavors; promotes the exchange of educational and cultural materials; and provides new study abroad options.
MSU’s Lourdes Cardozo Gaibisso, assistant professor of Teaching English as a Second Language, or TESOL, and linguistics, has been instrumental in the collaboration, along with partners, for her MSU Global Development Seed Grant. GDSG projects are organized and funded by the International Institute, continuing MSU’s commitment to building impactful international partnerships and positioning faculty for competitive external funding.
Cardozo Gaibisso’s BRIDGE TESOL project was funded in 2025 and has aimed to strengthen language instruction across Mississippi and Uruguay, including dynamic, iterative feedback cycles of in-person workshops and virtual engagement to improve English to Speakers of Other Languages, or ESOL, teacher professional learning.
“It is important to co-create solutions and opportunities that integrate different voices, levels of expertise, and skills,” Cardozo Gaibisso said. “This partnership signifies the start of how our universities can build lasting relationships that can allow us to advance research, service, and learning at a global scale.”
Along with Co-Principal Investigator Natalia Zambon Ferronato of ORT, Cardozo Gaibisso provided a hybrid, 7-month in-service ESOL teacher professional development program in Uruguay and has co-authored two forthcoming publications, as well as a conference presentation, about the ESOL teaching strategies. She recently returned to Uruguay, where partners met to celebrate the new MOU and plan for scaling shared interests for learning across Mississippi and Uruguay.
“This is the type of partnership we are looking for,” said Denise Vaillant, ORT Dean of the Institute of Education.
“When we think of interdisciplinary collaboration that leads to better learning outcomes and higher engaged classrooms, Dr. Cardozo Gaibisso’s research and implementation strategies are critical to the future of language teacher professional learning,” said ORT Director of International Relations María Azpiroz. “We are very pleased to see this collaboration evolve into a broader institutional partnership with strong potential for future academic cooperation.”
MSU Department of English Professor and Head Lara Dodds said MSU fosters diverse teaching and research on literature, writing, linguistics and TESOL.
“Dr. Cardozo Gaibisso has long incorporated a global perspective in her teaching and research, and I look forward to learning how this new partnership with Universidad ORT Uruguay will expand opportunities for students in the department and across MSU,” Dodds said.
MSU Associate Vice President for International Programs and International Institute Executive Director Dan Reynolds said this MOU is an illustration of the scaling work intended through the GDSG funded projects.
“What we see as these partnerships evolve is that they begin as dialogue which evolve into fruitful partnerships that benefit both parties,” Reynolds said.
Learn more about MSU’s Global Development Seed Grant program at https://www.international.msstate.edu/offices/international-research-development/internal-funding/global-development.
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